Divided Oppn gives UPA an edgeCUT MOTIONS: Mayawati gives indication that she will support the government
New Delhi, April 26
With the Opposition appearing divided, the government may comfortably sail through when it puts the demands of most of its ministries to guillotine tomorrow, notwithstanding BJP threat to introduce cut motions to corner it.

Dantewada massacre
Police didn’t support CRPF, says probe
New Delhi, April 26
The Chhattisgarh police did not fully support the Central paramilitary troopers, thus failing to prevent the April 6 Maoist attack in which 76 security personnel were killed, a government-appointed committee probing the Dantewada massacre has found, well informed sources said today.

Now, Bill on penalty for torture
New Delhi, April 26
A Bill proposing punishment for torture inflicted by public servants or torture inflicted by someone with the consent of public servants was introduced in the Lok Sabha today.

IAF developing aerospace capability
New Delhi, April 26
In an effort to match China’s effort to dominate space and satellites, the Indian Air Force is transforming itself into a strategic aerospace power. Addressing the IAF Commanders’ Conference here today, Defence Minister AK Antony said, “In the years to come, aerospace power will prove to be the decisive factor in shaping the outcome of conflicts.”

Lalu’s assets: Rs 12 lakh & an old Maruti car
Patna, April 26
Rashtriya Janata Dal chief and ex-Chief Minister of Bihar Lalu Prasad has no immovable property in his name. The former Railway Minister, whose political career spans over three decades, has amassed only Rs 12 lakh as cash and other savings.

VCs to discuss foreign varsities Bill today
Jalandhar, April 26
Having reservations and apprehensions with regard to the Foreign Universities Bill and the National Commission for Higher Education and Research (NCHER) Bill, vice-chancellors of various universities will meet at Manipal, near Bangalore, tomorrow.

Rajasthan Governor Prabha Rau passes awaySuffers cardiac arrest; seven-day
state mourning declared, cremation today
New Delhi/Jaipur/Mumbai, April 26
Rajasthan Governor Prabha Rau passed away on Monday after suffering a cardiac arrest at the Jodhpur House guesthouse in the national capital.Rau (74), a former Maharashtra minister, is survived by two daughters. The Rajasthan Government has declared a seven-day state mourning till May 2. It has declared Monday and Tuesday as holidays.

A file photo of Prabha Rau.

Delhi radiation exposure claims life
New Delhi, April 26
A man hospitalised after radiation exposure in the National Capital earlier this month died due to multi-organ failure today, doctors
said.Rajender, 35, a worker at a shop in Mayapuri scrap market, died at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences. He was shifted there on April 13 from the DDU hospital, where he was initially admitted.

SC rejects ND Tiwari’s plea for early hearing
New Delhi, April 26
The Supreme Court today declined former Uttarakhand Chief Minister ND Tiwari’s plea for early hearing on his petition seeking stay on proceedings in the Delhi High Court on a paternity suit filed by a person claiming to be his biological son.

CPM leader passes away
Thiruvananthapuram, April 26
Veteran Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader Varkala Radhakrishnan died today morning, a party official said.
Radhakrishnan, 82, was hospitalised here last week. His condition worsened last night and he was shifted to the ICU of the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College where he died today morning.

UID project is now AadhaarNew Delhi, April 26Looking to provide all vital details about an individual in one card, the Unique Identification Authority of India
(UIDAI) today renamed the government’s ambitious unique identity project as ‘Aadhaar’ and also unveiled its new logo.“The acronym UID is very confusing. Some people call it DUI, somebody calls it IUD and so forth.

UIDAI chief Nandan Nilekani at the unveiling of brand
name Aadhaar and its logo in New Delhi on Monday. — PTI

Not enough chance to defend myself: RathoreChandigarh, April 26Haryana’s former Director-General of Police SPS Rathore today indicated to the Punjab and Haryana High Court that he was not getting an adequate chance to defend himself in the Ruchika case. Rathore made this clear by saying the Centre was not providing him with the documents placed before the court in a public interest litigation filed in the matter.

Nityananda’s police remand extendedBangalore, April 26The police remand of Nityananda, the godman caught on camera with a film actress resulting into outrage and his arrest from Himachal Pradesh by a combined team of HP and Karnataka cops, was extended by two days when he was produced before the Sessions Court at Ramanagara near Bangalore today.

Tribunal upholds Army’s new promotion policyChandigarh, April 26Upholding the Army’s new promotion policy, introduced last year, the Armed Forces Tribunal has dismissed the contentions of a serving decorated Major General seeking promotion to the next higher rank, that the same was irrational and arbitrary. Disposing-off a petition filed by Maj Gen Hardev Singh, posted at Headquarters South-Western Command, the Tribunal bench comprising Justice S.S. Kulshrestha and Lt Gen S.S. Dhillon today ruled that the new promotion scheme was neither mala fide or unreasonable.

Centre okays constituent college for BathindaNew Delhi, April 26The Union Human Resource Development Ministry today approved Punjab government’s proposal to set up a constituent college at village Guddha in Bathinda constituency, represented in the Lok Sabha by Harsimrat Kaur
Badal, the wife of state deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal.

BJP-AGP ties under strainGuwahati, April 26The ruling Congress in Assam has a reason to be happy as its two major opponents - the BJP and the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) - are on the verge of snapping their alliance that was agreed upon just before the 2009 Lok Sabha elections.

New Delhi, April 26
With the Opposition appearing divided, the government may comfortably sail through when it puts the demands of most of its ministries to guillotine tomorrow, notwithstanding BJP threat to introduce cut motions to corner it.

The Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal and Bahujan Samaj Party originally which were earlier supporting the government had withdrawn support and joined hands with the Left and NDA when the Budget Session began in February. But that has suddenly changed now. The BSP, which has 21 MPs, indicating support to the government.

The BSP’s strategy appears to be linked to the recent development in the Supreme Court where the CBI had said it was prepared to consider Mayawati’s plea for closing a disproportionate assets case against her.

This has naturally enthused the government, Prime Minister Manmohan and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, who exuded sufficient confidence today when they met newsmen during a function at Rashtrapati Bhawan. “We are as confident as possible,” Manmohan Singh said and Sonia added, “We seek the support of all right-thinking people,” hinting at coming to an understanding with Lalu, Mulayam and Mayawati. Sources said the three leaders have undergone a change of heart following a deal with the government on their corruption cases.

The 13-party alliance which includes Lalu, Mulayam, TDP, AIADMK, BJD and HD Deve Gowda’s JD-S, has given a call for a Bharat Bandh tomorrow and Lalu said, “We have given a call for Bharat Bandh. Is Parliament not in India? Anyway, we will see tomorrow.” Primarily, the cut motion did not impress the RJD chief. On the other hand he and his current comrade Mulayam Singh seemed willing to support the Left amendments against the Finance Bill coming up on April 29. “During amendment we will get an opportunity to present our case in the House,” Lalu said.

Thanks to this division in Opposition ranks, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal appeared to be in full command. “We will have support from all our quarters. Governments have never fallen on a cut motion,” he said. The government has to quit if its Finance Bill is defeated on a money matter.

On its part, the BJP is leaving no stone unturned. It has issued a three-line whip asking all its 115 members to be present and vote for the motion. “We are ready with 153 NDA MPs,” said Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj, insisting that she was determined to move the motion, whatever be its fate.

New Delhi, April 26
The Chhattisgarh police did not fully support the Central paramilitary troopers, thus failing to prevent the April 6 Maoist attack in which 76 security personnel were killed, a government-appointed committee probing the Dantewada massacre has found, well informed sources said today.

The probe by the EN Rammohan Committee has highlighted the Chhattisgarh police’s lack of cohesiveness and their alleged failure to support the Central paramilitary forces in anti-Maoist operations in the state, sources said.

According to sources, top police official in Dantewada may be summoned by the Union Home Ministry for the “lapses”.

“It has been found that the police support to the (Central Reserve Police Force) CRPF personnel (who were targeted in the April 6 ambush) was less than desired,” an official said, speaking strictly on the condition of anonymity.

“There is evidence in the report suggesting that the CRPF team (of 62 Battalion that came under attack) diverted from the earmarked patrol task within a specific grid and moved in and around the area on its own where they were attacked by the Naxals,” the official said.The report, submitted to the Home Ministry on Saturday, has suggested a re-look into “tactical” security operations against Maoist rebels.

Rammohan, a former Border Security Force (BSF) head and a veteran of anti-militancy operations in Kashmir and the northeast, said, “I am sorry, I am not authorised to speak on the findings. They are classified.”

The probe committee head toured the ambush site in Dantewada forest and met civil, police and paramilitary officials, villagers and the injured troopers. He also met Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh last week to discuss the anti-Maoist operations.

Rammohan was appointed as a one-man panel to probe the Dantewada massacre two days after the attack. — IANS

New Delhi, April 26
A Bill proposing punishment for torture inflicted by public servants or torture inflicted by someone with the consent of public servants was introduced in the Lok Sabha today.

Introducing the Prevention of Torture Bill, 2010, Home Minister P Chidambaram said: “The proposed legislation, inter alia, defines the expression ‘torture’, provides for punishment to those involved in the incidents of torture and specifies the time limit for taking cognizance of the offence.”

He said an amendment of the existing laws such as the Indian Penal Code (IPC) or bringing in a new legislation was necessary for India to ratify the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 9, 1975.

“The IPC does not define ‘torture’ as clearly as in Article I of the Convention nor makes it a criminal offence as called for by Article 4 of the convention,” the Home Minister said. —
PTI

JEE Errors
Solution strategy to be posted on IIT websites by May 2
Aditi Tandon
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 26
The government today said it would do everything to ensure justice to IIT-JEE 2010 takers in the wake of errors that crept into the question banks. Over 4.7 lakh students took the test on April 11.

By May 2, IITs will post on their website the solutions being worked out for those affected due to instruction errors, especially in the Hindi version of IIT-JEE, which assigned lesser marks to a certain set of questions that carried more weight.

The IITs are already working on the remedial measures available. Directors of three IITs - IIT, Madras, IIT, Guwahati and IIT, Delhi, even met Human Resources Development Minister Kapil Sibal here today to apprise him of the steps being taken.

Sibal said the Ministry had analysed every error that was pointed out in the JEE 2010 question banks and would see that “substantial justice” was done to students. “Errors had crept in,” he admitted, adding that after the Joint Admission Board (JAB) meeting next week, IIT websites would have information on what was to be done to address the concerns of the affected students.

“I can’t tell at the moment what the nature of remedial action will be, but I can assure the solution is available; it is inbuilt into the system and will soon be available on the IIT websites. There will be substantial justice for students,” the minister assured. He, however, ruled out a reexamination of JEE, saying it was impractical to hold the test for so many students.

“We will do all we can to ensure no injustice is done to anyone,” Sibal added. When asked if the compensation would be in the nature of grace marks, he said it was premature to conclude what the corrective mechanism would be.

Dr MS Ananth, director IIT Madras, told the Tribune that IITs could find a way out. “There are errors and there is a solution,” he added.

New Delhi, April 26
In an effort to match China’s effort to dominate space and satellites, the Indian Air Force is transforming itself into a strategic aerospace power. Addressing the IAF Commanders’ Conference here today, Defence Minister AK Antony said, “In the years to come, aerospace power will prove to be the decisive factor in shaping the outcome of conflicts.”

In 2007, China demonstrated its capability of destroying a satellite in the space by firing a missile. The USA also followed up with its own test a year later. The test by China drew world’s attention towards its military build-up and raised fears of an arms race in space. The destruction of a satellite can result in a chaos in a country as communication links would snap, and there would be no updates on weather and climatic data, which is crucial for aviation, shipping and meteorology.

Three months ago, IAF chief Air Chief Marshal PV Naik pointed out that Indian satellites were vulnerable to A-SAT weapon systems “because our neighbourhood possesses one”. He was delivering the LM Katre memorial lecture. He termed the need to develop the technology as “ ..one of the challenges of future war capability”.

Today, Antony made it clear that the IAF was is in the process of transforming itself into a strategic aerospace force “befitting our national growth and aspirations”.

The Defence Minister said the IAF was in the process of modernisation and over the next few years, the IAF would have more advanced combat aircraft, helicopters, force multipliers and air-defence systems.

He wanted the commanders to take steps to reduce accidents. Thirty-eight accidents involving IAF aircraft and helicopters have occurred since April 1, 2007. Twenty-eight defence personnel lost their lives in these accidents. Damage to civil property was reported in six of these accidents.

Antony said each one of you, individually, as well as collectively, must ensure that the standard operating procedures (SOPs) were followed at all times and under all circumstances.

Patna, April 26
Rashtriya Janata Dal chief and ex-Chief Minister of Bihar Lalu Prasad has no immovable property in his name. The former Railway Minister, whose political career spans over three decades, has amassed only Rs 12 lakh as cash and other savings.

In addition, he has an old Maruti 800 car worth Rs 15,000 and an even older Army jeep worth Rs 10,000. This is what Lalu has revealed in his affidavit submitted to Lok Sabha a couple of days ago giving details of his assets.

It is a mandatory exercise for all MPs to disclose their assets and liabilities to the Speaker in the form of an affidavit within 90 days of being sworn in. However, Lalu was one among the 51 MPs, who had not bothered to comply with the directive. It was only after Speaker Meira Kumar expressed her serious displeasure over the matter and fresh notices were served to all defaulting MPs that the RJD chief and three of his party MPs have submitted their affidavits.

Although, Lalu has disclosed assets only worth Rs 12 lakh under his individual possession, his family is quite rich. Going by the details disclosed by him, his wife Rabri Devi, also a former Chief Minister has assets worth Rs 63 lakh in her name.

Jalandhar, April 26
Having reservations and apprehensions with regard to the Foreign Universities Bill and the National Commission for Higher Education and Research (NCHER) Bill, vice-chancellors of various universities will meet at Manipal, near Bangalore, tomorrow.

Most of the VCs are not prepared to accept the NCHER in the existing form. They are also opposed to the entry of foreign universities in mainstream higher education. They may, however, accept the entry of foreign universities in the field of higher research and some specific fields.

Concern of most of the VCs is the NCHER Bill, 2010. There is dominating opinion in the universities that the Bill, instead of restoring their autonomy, seeks further centralisation of the authority, which is against the recommendations made by the National Knowledge Commission (NKC). The commission had urged to free the universities from the shackles of regulatory bodies. The Yashpal Committee had recommended that the proposed NCHER should be free from political and bureaucratic interference and have policy-making role.

The committee had recommended that the universities should be given complete freedom in decide courses, curriculum, delivery mechanism and evaluation system.

Commenting on the NCHER, Vice-Chairman of the Kerala State Higher Education Council KN Panikkar said, “The NCHER is mainly a management remedy and not sufficiently rooted in academic imperatives.”

Dr Rajneesh Arora, Vice-Chancellor of Punjab Technical University (PTU), Jalandhar, who will attend the Manipal meet, said, “I believe the universities, which are major stakeholders in higher education, have not been consulted and made part of the reforms process in the education sector.” At the meeting, decision would be taken to expand the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) to promote it as a platform for holding discussion and debates on the issues related to higher education.

“I would say that in certain specific areas, where higher-level research was required, there could be entry of foreign university, but as far as imparting of general education is concerned, existing Indian universities are doing a good job,” said Dr Arora.“In case of entry of foreign universities, the Union Government would have to provide level playing field to the Indian universities which focus on inclusive education, whereas the foreign ones would focus on exclusive education,” Dr Arora added.

New Delhi/Jaipur/Mumbai, April 26
Rajasthan Governor Prabha Rau passed away on Monday after suffering a cardiac arrest at the Jodhpur House guesthouse in the national capital.

Rau (74), a former Maharashtra minister, is survived by two daughters. The Rajasthan Government has declared a seven-day state mourning till May 2. It has declared Monday and Tuesday as holidays. The cremation is to be held Tuesday at 4 pm in Wardha district in Maharashtra’s Vidarbha region to which Rau’s family belonged.

Rau collapsed in the toilet of a Delhi guesthouse and was rushed to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) around 11 am, officials said. Doctors pronounced her dead at about 12.30 p.m. “When she didn’t open the door for a long time, her assistant knocked and found her on the floor. She died of cardiac arrest,” said GN Bhat, joint director (information) of the Rajasthan Government.

Rau is the fourth governor of Rajasthan to die in office. She took over as governor January 25 shortly after her predecessor SK Singh passed away while in office on December 1, 2009.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh led the nation in mourning Rau's death. In a message to Rau’s daughter Sanyogita Morarji, the Prime Minister described her as an outstanding public figure and an ideal constitutional functionary. “All her life, she worked for the welfare of the people of our country and of Maharashtra,” he said.

Born on March 4, 1935 in Khandwa, Madhya Pradesh, she belonged to a family of freedom fighters. She was also the governor of Himachal Pradesh. A Congress party member, she was elected to the Maharashtra assembly six times and to the Lok Sabha in 1999.

She was a cabinet minister in Maharashtra four times, and held the portfolios of revenue and cultural affairs, cooperation and tourism, education, sports and youth affairs.

Rau was also chairperson of the Maharashtra Rifle Association. Congress leaders from Maharashtra paid rich tributes to Rau. Former chief minister and Union minister Vilasrao Deshmukh said: “The Congress has lost a veteran politician. She was an extremely disciplined leader and tried hard to imbibe the discipline in Congress workers. She worked very hard to see that the Congress reaches new heights.”

Maharashtra Governor K Sankaranarayanan described Rau as a “respectable leader who had dominated the political firmament of Maharashtra for almost three decades”. —
IANS

New Delhi, April 26
A man hospitalised after radiation exposure in the National Capital earlier this month died due to multi-organ failure today, doctors said.Rajender, 35, a worker at a shop in Mayapuri scrap market, died at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences. He was shifted there on April 13 from the DDU hospital, where he was initially admitted.

“He died due to multi-organ failure around 9.30 pm. His condition had deteriorated. His TLC count and his platelet count had dropped drastically and he had developed pneumonia. There were signs of kidney and liver function impairment. He was on ventilator and was being administered multiple drugs,” a doctor with the hospital said.

Four other radiation exposure patients are still admitted in AIIMS, while Deepak Jain, the owner of the scrap shop from where radioactive material Cobalt-60 was recovered, is at Apollo Hospital. Another patient Ajay Jain is undergoing treatment at Army Hospital, Research and Referral. — PTI

New Delhi, April 26
The Supreme Court today declined former Uttarakhand Chief Minister ND Tiwari’s plea for early hearing on his petition seeking stay on proceedings in the Delhi High Court on a paternity suit filed by a person claiming to be his biological son.

A Bench headed by Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan refused to post the case at an early date when senior counsel AND Rao made a mention of it.

The petition in the HC has been filed by Rohit Shekhar, grandson of a former Union minister, claiming that he was born as a result of a relationship between his mother Ujjwala Sharma, a former Congress activist, and Tiwari.

On April 7, the HC had indicated that Tiwari (84) would have to undergo a DNA test to ascertain Rohit’s claim and sought the Congress leader’s response to more than 100 photographs showing him present with the 31-year-old and his mother.CPM leader passes away

Thiruvananthapuram, April 26
Veteran Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader Varkala Radhakrishnan died today morning, a party official said.
Radhakrishnan, 82, was hospitalised here last week. His condition worsened last night and he was shifted to the ICU of the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College where he died today morning.

Radhakrishnan began his career in 1952 as a village council head of Varkala in the suburbs of
Thiruvananthapuram. He was a member of the Kerala Assembly from 1980 to 1996. Between 1987 and 1991, he was the assembly speaker. Since 1998, he represented the Chiryankeezhu Lok Sabha constituency. —
IANS

New Delhi, April 26
Looking to provide all vital details about an individual in one card, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) today renamed the government’s ambitious unique identity project as ‘Aadhaar’ and also unveiled its new logo.

“The acronym UID is very confusing. Some people call it DUI, somebody calls it IUD and so forth. It was a little difficult to explain its various permutations and combinations,” UIDAI chairman Nandan Nilekani said, while renaming the project as ‘Aadhaar’ (foundation).

“Therefore, we wanted a name that could effectively communicate its transformational potential and its promise to residents. Something that had a national appeal that could be recognised across the country, could resonate in different languages and was easy to remember and speak,” he said.

The unique 16-digit identification card is an effort from the government to reach out to the common man.

UIDAI Director General RS Sharma said the first 16-digit number would be rolled out by February next year. Nilekani said the same standard was also set for the making of the logo. The new logo, with a sun in yellow and a fingerprint in the centre, was also made public at a seminar organised by the UIDAI here.

Interestingly, the logo, selected after a nationwide competition, was unveiled by Dhaneshwar Ram, a resident of Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh, who was invited by the UIDAI to speak on the hardships faced by the common man in getting an identity at present.

The logo creator, Atul Sudhakarrao Pande, a Mumbai resident was given a cheque for Rs 1 lakh after his design was selected among over 2,000 entries.

Speaking to a news agency, Pande, who is a designer by profession, said, “My sister told me about this competition. I read through their concept notes and knew that I had to create something which is easily recognisable. Any rural person would be able to easily recognise the sun and the fingerprint.”

Pande, who would turn 39 tomorrow, said, “My win is the best birthday present that I have received. It will be taken to millions of people and will be at the front of this ambitious project.”

Nilekani said the project aimed the under-privileged and the poor, who are left out of the government’s social schemes because of lack of identity proof.

R Chandra Shekhar, Secretary, Department of Information Technology, said, “AADHAAR is the first identity project which is aiming at the poor and marginalised. Earlier all such schemes use to cater only to security but AADHAAR caters to both.”

Chandigarh, April 26
Haryana’s former Director-General of Police SPS Rathore today indicated to the Punjab and Haryana High Court that he was not getting an adequate chance to defend himself in the Ruchika case. Rathore made this clear by saying the Centre was not providing him with the documents placed before the court in a public interest litigation filed in the matter.

As the petition filed in public interest by city-based lawyer Ranjan Lakhanpal came up for hearing before the division bench of Chief Justice Mukul Mudgal and Justice Jasbir Singh, Rathore’s counsel-cum-wife Abha Rathore protested that the copies of the replies filed by the Centre in the case had not been supplied to her.

Referring to the previous date proceedings, Abha Rathore told the bench that earlier also the issue was raised before the high court. Taking up her grievance, the bench had directed the Centre and other parties to supply the copies of the replies in advance. But the problem was persisting, she added.

Counsel for the state of Haryana, too, came up with a similar complaint. He, too, claimed that the replies had not been handed over to him.

Abha has all along been raising the issue of non-supply of documents. Earlier also, she had raised the same plea before Justice Sabina during the hearing of Rathore’s pleas for anticipatory bail in fresh cases registered by the CBI.

The CBI and the Union of India, represented in the case by advocates Anmol Rattan Sidhu and Ajay Kaushik, on the other hand, have consistently been denying the allegations.

Responding to the assertions by Haryana state counsel and Abha Rathore, Sidhu categorically told the Bench that the copies had been supplied well in advance. Handing over another set of reply to the state counsel, Sidhu said they could ask for as many copies as they wanted. “There’s no dearth of copies,” he asserted.

After hearing all the sides, Justice Mudgal reiterated the court’s earlier stand that the counsel were required to supply copies to the opposite sides well in advance in all the cases. The bench also fixed July 19 as the next date of hearing in the case.

Chandigarh-based World Human Rights Council through chairman-cum-advocate Ranjan Lakhanpal had earlier sought directions for independent probe in the Ruchika case, right from the day she was molested till the final decision of the case. The petitioner also sought appropriate action against all officers siding with Rathore and enabling the trial to continue for 19 years.

Bangalore, April 26
The police remand of Nityananda, the godman caught on camera with a film actress resulting into outrage and his arrest from Himachal Pradesh by a combined team of HP and Karnataka cops, was extended by two days when he was produced before the Sessions Court at Ramanagara near Bangalore today.

Nityananda was remanded in four-day police custody on Thursday by the court on his arrival in Karnataka.

The media was barred from attending the hearing in the court today. It was, however, learnt that the police had originally sought police remand for Nityananda for five more days. This was turned down by the magistrate who granted custodial interrogation of Nityananda by the police for two more days.

The police had also sought extension of police remand for Nityananda Bhakt, a devotee who was arrested with the godman. This, too, was turned down by the magistrate and the accomplice was today given judicial remand for two days.

Charan Reddy, DIG (CID), which has been entrusted with the investigation into the Nityananda case, however, said the court had given the police what it wanted. On granting of judicial custody to the godman’s associate, Reddy said, ‘we are interested only in Nityananda’.

Meanwhile, a computer hard disc, purportedly containing material related to sexual experiments carried out in the Nityananda’s Ashram in the name of tantric rituals, has been sent by police to the forensic science laboratory (FSL) at Hyderabad for scanning.

Chandigarh, April 26
Upholding the Army’s new promotion policy, introduced last year, the Armed Forces Tribunal has dismissed the contentions of a serving decorated Major General seeking promotion to the next higher rank, that the same was irrational and arbitrary. Disposing-off a petition filed by Maj Gen Hardev Singh, posted at Headquarters South-Western Command, the Tribunal bench comprising Justice S.S. Kulshrestha and Lt Gen S.S. Dhillon today ruled that the new promotion scheme was neither mala fide or unreasonable.

Among other contentions, General Hardev had claimed that the scheme was arbitrary and appeared to been formulated to mar the chances of promotion of some officers. Implemented from January 1, 2009, the new promotion process switched from the earlier “value judgement” to the “quantification method”, under which out of 100 marks, 92 per cent weightage is culled from confidential reports. Two per cent is given for honours and awards and 1 per cent for courses, while the remaining 5 per cent marks are awarded by the selection board.

“From the object of the scheme, it is clear that the Army explored the possibility of making meaningful selection for promotion so as to imbibe confidence among officers to select those who are competent and fit in all respects and further, to improve transparency and objectivity,” the bench observed.

The petitioner had also contended that he had an exceptional career profile having awarded a Kirti Chakra for combat action, but was given eight points in his confidential report during his tenure as a division commander in 2006-07 though his superior officer had intended to give him nine points. This deprived him from getting promoted to Lieutenant General.

“Our contentions were that promotion cannot be claimed as a right and when considering an officer for promotion, the selection board takes into consideration a number of factors such as war or operational experience, course reports, awards and disciplinary background,” Col R. Balasubramaniam, the government’s counsel told The Tribune. “Therefore the selection or rejection is based upon the overall profile of an officer and comparative merit within the batch evaluated by the board,” he added.

The Bench also did not find merit in the petitioner’s claim that he had been in the “zone of promotion” since 2008, but the selection process for promotion was purposely delayed for the new scheme to come into force in 2009.

New Delhi, April 26
The Union Human Resource Development Ministry today approved Punjab government’s proposal to set up a constituent college at village Guddha in Bathinda constituency, represented in the Lok Sabha by Harsimrat Kaur Badal, the wife of state deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal.

It also cleared Punjab’s request to provide Rs 265 crore fund for restructuring and upgrading at least 2100 high schools and senior secondary schools in dire need of repair in the state.

At a high-level meeting this evening in the office of HRD Minister Kapil Sibal, Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, while on his way to the US, made a case for the constituent college close to the land where a central university is already coming up in Guddha.

This central university is among the 12 sanctioned recently by the Centre. The state today told the Centre that it had acquired additional 40 acre adjacent to the central university land in Bathinda and wanted to set up a constituent college and a model school there.

While the ministry agreed to fund the constituent college, with one third money coming from the Centre, it disapproved of Punjab’s idea of setting up a model school nearby the said varsity.

A via media was, however, worked out with the ministry agreeing to fund a school from class IX to XII (at the stated location) under Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan. This is not so much to the state’s advantage as it would have to invest in classes VI, VII and VII in the said school.

Guwahati, April 26
The ruling Congress in Assam has a reason to be happy as its two major opponents - the BJP and the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) - are on the verge of snapping their alliance that was agreed upon just before the 2009 Lok Sabha elections.

The Congress will be in an advantageous position before the 2011 Assembly elections in the state in case the BJP and the AGP part ways. Both parties share almost same support base in the state.

The AGP steering committee has decided to snap electoral understanding with the BJP and final decision in this regard would be taken by the general House of the party that is scheduled to meet within a month, party spokesperson Atul Bora said. The AGP’s decision, however, has surprised the BJP leadership that believes that electoral alliance with the AGP still stands. BJP in charge of Assam P Chandrasekhar Rao said: “We have learnt from the media about the AGP steering committee’s decision to do away with the alliance with the BJP. We are yet to receive any formal communication from the party in this regard.”